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Home / I Take No One's Charity and Forgive No One's Betrayal / Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

Author: zentrolao
Supported by two maids, Maria tottered forward and planted herself in front of the car.

Her hair was silver, but her deep-set eyes were sharp and cruel.

Back in the day, she'd fought beside the late Don, submachine gun in hand, to take half the city.

Thanks to that, she'd always thrown her weight around in the underworld.

Even my father, when he was alive, treated her with respect.

"Ms. Marino, if you insist on being this willful, what becomes of the Rossi family's good name?"

Maria leaned on her cane, her deeply lined face set hard.

There wasn't a trace of deference in her voice, only condescension.

"Our family has been a respected mafia name for 100 years, and Carlos holds our crew together.

"Your car is already at the church. Every underworld boss in the Americas is inside, watching.

"If you call off the wedding now, are you humiliating the Rossi family or the Council?"

Every word was meant to lay the blame on me.

She made it sound as if leaving would make me the greatest villain in mafia history.

With his grandmother backing him, Carlos grew bolder.

He stepped forward again. His tone softened, but the threat remained.

"Isabella, Grandmother's right. Don't do anything rash.

"Your father arranged this marriage before he died. Think about what will happen if you leave today.

"By tomorrow, every underworld channel on the dark web will be calling you jealous and petty.

"Then your reputation will be ruined. How will you ever hold your head up in our world?"

I sat in the car as grandmother and grandson took turns guilt-tripping me.

The chill I'd kept buried in my chest began to spread.

"My reputation, ruined?"

I let out a soft laugh. In the quiet car, it sounded strangely loud.

"Carlos, you think way too highly of yourself.

"A loser who needs a woman to take a bullet for him has no business worrying about my reputation."

Carlos's face twisted in outrage.

"What did you call me?!"

He was supposed to be the South District's celebrated fighter, and his fiancée had just called him a loser in front of everyone.

To him, that insult was worse than death.

"Baby, don't be angry..."

Lily had gotten to her feet at some point and stumbled into Carlos's arms.

She held the baby in one arm and clutched his lapel with her free hand.

"Ms. Marino just said that in the heat of the moment. She didn't really mean to insult you.

"It's all my fault, all of it. I'll leave right now. I'll never put you in a hard spot, baby!"

She said she'd leave, but her feet stayed planted.

Her watery eyes were full of hurt, as if she couldn't bear to part with him.

Sure enough, the sight of her made Carlos lose control.

He shoved Lily aside and roared at the Rolls-Royce.

"Isabella! Don't push your luck!"

He'd dropped "Ms. Marino" and was calling me by my first name.

"You must have prayed your whole life to get a man like me!

"Do you really think you're still the little mafia princess your father spoiled rotten?

"The Council runs things now. You're just the late Don's orphan, a figurehead with an empty title!"

The whole place fell silent.

Everyone gasped.

No one had expected Carlos to say aloud what they had all quietly believed.

Maria made no move to stop him. She smiled with cold satisfaction.

Clearly, she thought the same thing.

In their eyes, I'd lost the only person who could protect me.

They thought they could push me around however they pleased.

"Carlos is right."

Maria banged her silver wolf's-head cane on the marble and raised her chin.

"Isabella, I'd advise you to face reality.

"Once you marry into the Rossi family, you follow our rules.

"You'll accept this woman whether you like it or not!"

As soon as she finished, the South District gunmen stepped forward together.

The sharp clicks of rounds sliding into chambers cut through the air.

Hundreds of armed men in suits had my car boxed in on every side.

They made it clear I couldn't leave without agreeing.

The scar-faced capo leading them glared at the man behind the wheel.

His look warned that if the driver touched the gas, he'd be riddled with bullets.

"Isabella, please get out of the car."

Carlos straightened the suit Lily had wrinkled and put on his superior air again.

"The ceremony's about to start. Don't keep the priest and the guests waiting."
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  • I Take No One's Charity and Forgive No One's Betrayal   Chapter 10

    From inside the Rolls-Royce, I couldn't see Carlos clinging to life in the corner like a cockroach.Even if I had, I wouldn't have felt a thing.The motorcade came to a smooth stop in front of the estate that served as family headquarters.Ceremonial cannons boomed, and helicopters circled overhead.Alexander stepped out of his car, strode over to mine, and opened the door for me himself.Once again, he held out his long-fingered hand to me."Isabella, we're home."His voice was so gentle it was hard to believe he was the same man the underworld called the devil himself.I placed my hand in his and let him lead me, step by step, down the red carpet that symbolized supreme power.No one tried to guilt me into anything. No mistress waited at the door with an illegitimate child. No one schemed against me.The hall was full of well-wishers, and the man before me had eyes only for me.After the wedding, the Rossi family disappeared from the underworld.I heard Maria couldn't take the rough

  • I Take No One's Charity and Forgive No One's Betrayal   Chapter 9

    He laughed until tears streamed down his face, mixing with the blood and grime. It made him look even more grotesque.His laughter echoed through the empty basement, full of despair and regret.He'd destroyed everything for a con artist who treated him like dirt, pushing away the woman who'd once loved him more than anyone.Now he was disgraced, abandoned, and alone. If that wasn't karma, what was?"Carlos, enjoy the rest of your days."Watching him suffer, I finally let go of whatever feelings I'd still had for him."At noon tomorrow, the entire Rossi family will be exiled to a drug den on the Mexican border."As for you, you'll stay in this flooded cell and slowly pay for your sins."I turned and, without another look at him, walked straight out of the dungeon."Isabella! Don't go!"Carlos's anguished cries rang out behind me."I was wrong! I know I was wrong! Please, give me one more chance!"Even if I have to be your servant for the rest of my life, I'll do anything, as long as I c

  • I Take No One's Charity and Forgive No One's Betrayal   Chapter 8

    The underground interrogation rooms at headquarters were so dark and damp the cold seemed to seep into my bones.I wore a bold red velvet gown and walked slowly down the long corridor.Dim light flickered across my face, stretching my shadow out along the floor.Alexander walked half a step behind me, like a loyal guardian shielding me from the foul air.I stopped in front of the flooded cell at the very end.Chained to the wall inside was Carlos, once the South District's celebrated fighter.His tailored suit was now a ragged mess of dried blood and mud, and he reeked.At the sound of footsteps, he struggled to lift his head. His handsome face had been beaten beyond recognition."Isabella..."His cracked lips moved. His voice rasped like sandpaper."You came to see me... I knew you still had feelings for me..."A feverish hope lit up his clouded eyes.He thought I'd come to save him.After all, for more than a decade, the smallest scratch on him had been enough to make me cry."Carlos

  • I Take No One's Charity and Forgive No One's Betrayal   Chapter 7

    At my command, the Tribunal's shadow soldiers descended on the South District thugs.At gunpoint, the men who'd been so arrogant moments ago didn't even dare resist. They threw down their weapons, dropped to their knees, and begged for their lives.Two heavily armed soldiers pinned Tyson to the ground. Terror and despair filled his scarred face.He'd never imagined that the boss he worshiped like a god was a fool who'd sold out to the enemy and couldn't even tell whose child he was raising."Ms. Marino, spare me! Please, spare me!"He groveled, all his bravado gone.I didn't look at him. I let the soldiers drag them away like dead dogs.Two broad-shouldered guards held Carlos upright. His hair was disheveled, his face bloody. Nothing remained of the kingpin he'd been.He looked at me, shaking like a leaf."Isabella... I was wrong. I know I was wrong..."He somehow found the strength to break free of the guards and crawl toward me."We grew up together. For old times' sake, just let me

  • I Take No One's Charity and Forgive No One's Betrayal   Chapter 6

    "All those years of service?"I scoffed at the sight of him, his forehead bloody from all that groveling. All I felt was disgust."Do you really think I don't know about the dirty business you've been running in the South District?"I turned and held my hand out to Alexander.Alexander understood. He took a thick file from inside his coat and handed it to me.I slapped the file down in front of Carlos."Open your damn eyes and take a good look at this!"Carlos picked up the file with trembling hands. One glance was all it took, and he crumpled.Page after page detailed his so-called achievements on the streets over the years.He'd stolen the organization's weapons, pocketed money-laundering profits, and even sold sensitive intelligence to the rival Russian mob.Any one of those crimes could have gotten him dumped at the bottom of the sea 100 times over."You thought you could hide everything by turning those thugs into your private army?"I leaned down, my voice full of mockery."Carlo

  • I Take No One's Charity and Forgive No One's Betrayal   Chapter 5

    He said my name with quiet tenderness.Silence fell. The cold wind snapped at his black coat.I took Alexander's outstretched hand without hesitation, my white lace glove against his skin.His fingertips trembled when they touched mine."Alec, you're a little late."I let him help me out of the Rolls-Royce, the elaborate skirt of my wedding dress sweeping around me.Alexander drew me close and shielded me from the wind with his black cashmere coat."It's my fault for being late. My queen should never have had to put up with this."He lowered his head, his voice tight with barely restrained violence."What do you want me to do with these idiots? Give them cement shoes and drop them in the sea, or hang them from the Brooklyn Bridge?"His casual tone made every kneeling member of the Rossi family go rigid with fear.This time Maria really did pass out. Several maids scrambled to pat her cheeks and bring her around.Carlos looked up sharply, shocked."Mr. Ricci! What did I do wrong?!"He s

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